Rep. Steve King: Unrestricted access to guns is a 'higher calling' than stopping 'one event of violence'

Reflecting on the horrific murder of nine churchgoers who were gunned down in Charleston, South Carolina, Rep. Steve King (R) told an Iowa radio host that -- while the deaths were tragic -- Americans had a higher calling to defend against tyranny and that includes lots of guns.

In audio recorded by Right Wing Watch, the Iowa Republican diminished the shooting in Charleston as "one event of violence" while looking at the bigger picture as envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

King began by criticizing President Obama's comments that gun violence is an epidemic in the United States before launching into an impromptu history lesson on the 2nd Amendment.

"Yes, we have a Second Amendment,” King explained. “And even if some of this violence could be stopped by confiscating all the guns, we have a charge, our charge is to defend freedom and liberty. We are the bastion of western civilization, and that requires us to be able to defend ourselves against tyranny."

King continued, "That’s the charge that our founding fathers gave us, that’s in our culture, we know that, we’ve had to do that worldwide. So, it’s a much higher calling than believing that somehow we end one event of violence.”

Listen to audio captured by Right Wing Watch below: